


Put Another Dime In The Jukebox, Baby

by bastiankurts (orphan_account)



Series: Glitter and Gold 'verse [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2018-01-02 22:06:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1062168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/bastiankurts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt drags Elliott along to an old record shop in the city to search for any music that could be helpful in aid of giving their band new things to work with after their first gig turned out to be a failure. Elliott however, eventually discovers a game that he can play in the store with Kurt, before he eventually finds a record that could somehow be very useful to them …</p>
            </blockquote>





	Put Another Dime In The Jukebox, Baby

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr, but posted here also for archiving purposes.

“I want to find something that's different. Something that’s unexpected from us, but still manages to impress people and leave them wanting more.” 

Elliott continued to follow behind Kurt’s lead, listening to him and responding himself whenever he could along the way. It was late afternoon, and both Kurt and Elliott had previously finished their morning classes and lectures at their respective colleges, before eventually meeting up with one another at a small coffee shop that they both frequently visited.

Usually whenever they got together – either just the two of them of with the rest of the band in tow – their conversations would focus on one of two things; either that of exchanging ideas and suggestions for the band, or simply that of spending a little bit of time on getting to know one another better whilst at the same time working on college work together.

However, when Elliott had met Kurt earlier that day, the first thing that he had noticed was the expression that he was wearing. He had been drawn to the way that Kurt’s eyes shone brightly, in the way that they always did whenever he had an idea brewing deep within his thoughts. It was enough to prepare Elliott for whatever it was that Kurt had to share with him, and in turn it had resulted in the two of them eventually walking along the busy city streets together.

“And so that leads us … here?” Elliott asked in response to what Kurt had said, noticing that they had finally slowed down to a stop in front of one of the shops. Elliott stopped walking, tilting his head up slightly to read the sign that was displayed above the shop.

“An old record shop?” 

“An old record shop,” Kurt replied, giving a small little nod as he did so. Elliott watched, slightly confused as Kurt reached out with one hand to grab a hold of the door handle, turning it and opening the door, pulling it towards himself.

“Come on,” Kurt said cheerfully, giving Elliott a look before stepping inside. Once again Elliott found himself following after him, giving a small shake of his head along with a small, breathless huff of laughter that left his lips as he stepped into the store.

The first thing that either of the two of them noticed as they entered the store was that it was organised in a way that was best described as orderly, although managing to appear slightly busy. Even though the store was slightly small in size, it managed to use its space in a way which complemented it well, making it easier to navigate through what was up on display only and what was actually available for sale. The walls were covered in posters and photographs of various bands and singers, musical artists past and present that had left a mark on the music scene. Some were dated or signed too, little snippets of memories from what could only be past concerts and gigs that the bands had performed and been a part of, and every so often in between where those posters were displayed there would be a small number of shelves fitted against the wall, displaying some of the records that could be purchased for those artists and groups.

The store also had a few aisles running throughout the length of it, each one displaying a selection of large, vinyl records upon the various racks that they would be sitting in. The records were displayed in alphabetical order throughout the store, and even from where the two of them were standing both Elliott and Kurt could see that not only were there the classic, vintage records on display to purchase, but also some from modern artists that had been released also. All in all, there was one thing that was obvious that the store held, and that was variation.

“Are we looking for anything specific, Kurt?” Elliott found himself asking, turning his attention away from the store to glance at where Kurt was still standing beside him. He noticed Kurt take another moment to take in their surroundings, before he finally gave a small little shrug of his shoulder as he replied. 

“Nothing in particular really, no,” Kurt said.

He stepped forward then, moving to one of the few aisles in the store and beginning to search through the records. “Obviously like I say, any songs that stand out and seem like they would make a good impression if our band were to perform them. And before you ask, no, I’m not ruling out your beloved  _Glamrock_  genre either, so you’re more than welcome to search through that if you so wish to.” 

Elliott couldn’t help but let out another small laugh at that, picking up on what had sort of become running joke between the two of them regarding his tastes in music. He moved to one side of Kurt, beginning to search through the racks of records himself and flicking through what it was that they had to offer. 

“What even made you come to the decision to search through a record shop in the first place anyway?” Elliott asked, curious as to why Kurt had thought to look at records and not sheet music like they usually would whenever they were lost for inspiration.

“I guess I first started to think about it the other evening,” Kurt replied, letting out a sigh as he did so and not letting his attention move away from where it was focused ahead of him. “You know, when we got to that gig and were heavily disappointed by the turnout of it.” 

“Hey. There were, like, five people that managed to turn up. That's better than no one,” Elliott cut in.

“Yes, but it was  _only_  five people when we were  _expecting_  a full house,” Kurt reminded him. He paused for a second, thinking to himself before giving another small little shrug of his shoulder. “I don’t know. I just – after that show not going _exactly_  the way we really wanted it to and hoped for, I started to think about things that  _we_  could do to make our band more, well …  _ours_. Something that would be fun for all of us to give a shot at at the very least.” 

Kurt finished his search through the small little section he had been looking through and stepped to move around Elliott, so that he could continue to search through more of the records that were on the other side of him, continuing to speak as moved. 

“And then when I was working that awful graveyard shift the other day whilst at work, the thought about looking at different types of music suddenly came to me. I thought that maybe, if we were to pick up some old songs and add our own, fresh twist to them, or even if we just found newer or more current ones, we’d find at least a few songs that we not only would enjoy performing all together as a group, but that people would hopefully enjoy listening to as well. And then after that, I remembered that a friend of mine had mentioned this store to me before. I figured that continuing to take a chance on those new things could help benefit us somehow. After all, so far it hasn’t managed to fail me.”

Elliott glanced at Kurt out of the corner of his eye then, noticing as the other man spoke how the quick flash of the metal on the tongue piercing he had gotten a few weeks ago could be seen, almost as if it was making a point to be noticed with what it was that Kurt was saying. Elliott smiled at Kurt’s words however, understanding what he meant by his idea and seeing what it was that Kurt was attempting to achieve with it.

“Well,  _now_ it makes a bit more sense when you put it like that, instead of only half explaining it as we left the coffee shop earlier,” He answered, moving his attention away from where he had been admiring the profile of Kurt’s face a moment longer than was really necessary to instead focus on looking through the selection of records once again. As soon as he did something caught his eye, and Elliott couldn’t help the way that the corner of his lips curled up slightly into a smile once more.

“And you said that nothing was out of the question as a suggestion, correct?” Elliott asked, quickly glancing back at Kurt once more to watch his reaction.

“No,” Kurt replied, shaking his head slightly before focusing on the records for a moment longer. “Nothing’s out of the question. Why? Have you found something already?”

“Maybe,” Elliott said. He carefully picked up the record that had caught his eye, turning to face Kurt fully before holding it up to show him. Kurt’s attention focused on a few records in the section he was searching through still, before he finally turned and looked at what it was that Elliott had found. As soon as he saw the cover and realised what it was and who the band were, Kurt instantly found himself breaking out into a smile, letting out a laugh of his own.

“I really don’t know if  _ABBA_  is exactly what we’re looking for, Elliott,” Kurt said, watching as Elliott lowered the record slightly at his reply. Kurt knew that Elliott more than likely felt the same as he did on the matter, noticing the way that his smile had grown at hearing Kurt’s laughter.

“I don’t know, what with you trying new things and becoming more  _rebellious_  as of late, I think  _‘Take A Chance On Me’ could_  manage to work for you somehow.”

Elliott moved the record so that he could admire the cover himself, Kurt standing across from him and still laughing slightly, having moved one hand to cover his mouth so as not to laugh too loudly in the store and disturb anyone else. With his free hand Kurt reached over, lightly touching Elliott on the arm and causing him to face him once more.

“How about we think about coming back to that one later?” Kurt asked, a hint of humour laced into his words. “Until then, you look through the music on the other side of this rack, and I’ll keep looking here.”

“If you’re sure,” Elliott replied, turning to put the record back in the place that he had previously found it before moving to walk around to the aisle that was directly across from Kurt. 

Kurt seemed to focus back onto searching for music by various songs and bands, every now and then picking a record up before either setting it back down or setting it down to one side beside him. Elliott’s focus had turned back onto searching for music himself, but every so often he would glance up to look at Kurt, watching him for a second and admiring how his features were set in concentration as he searched, before Elliott would look down quickly again before Kurt could even notice he had been watching him.

After a while, Elliott came across another record that he recognised. In fact, if anyone were to ask him, they would learn that it was one that was an old favourite of his. He picked it up out of the section that it sat in, taking a moment to look at it before glancing back at Kurt once more, smiling to himself as a sudden idea sprung to his mind. 

“Kurt, what about this?” Elliott said, leaning forward slightly so that he could hold the record up and rest it on the top of the rack that separated the two of them. In response Kurt let out a small humming sound, before looking up and noticing that he was faced not with Elliott, but with the cover of an album looking back at him.

“ _Foreigner_?” Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow as he reached out for the album to take it from Elliott.

“Yeah,” Elliott replied, handing the record to Kurt. “We could switch it up, change some of the lyrics here or there to fit for our performances. You know, so it’s more like …  _‘I’ve been waaaaiting, for a guy like you –‘_ “. 

“Okay, okay,” Kurt cut in just as Elliott had started to sing, beginning to let out another little laugh again. He glanced up from where he had been looking at the record to look back at Elliott, noticing that Elliott was smiling brightly at him in return once more. “We’ll include this one if you don't spontaneously start singing every time you find a record you know or like. Keep looking, and let me know if you find anything else too.”

“Well, while we’re talking about other finds ... I did manage to find this.”

Noticing that Kurt’s eyebrow had quirked upwards once more in curiosity, Elliott couldn’t help but let his smile grow into a grin, before reaching for one of the records that he had picked up earlier. He held it up, showing Kurt the cover in the same manner that he had the one before, and like before Kurt reached out to take it from his hands. 

He watched as Kurt looked at it, continuing to smile to himself while he noticed the way that Kurt’s lips curled up once more like they had only moments before, until eventually Kurt was turning his attention away from the record in his hands to look at Elliott once more.

“You  _do_  know that I didn’t expect you to pick out  _only_  rock songs, right?” Kurt asked, amused. Elliott saw the way that Kurt was looking at him, noticing the way that Kurt’s expression was light and playful, as if finding Elliott’s game of picking records funny in some way.

In response, Elliott leant forward, resting his arms to sit on the rack that divided them, staring at Kurt and still grinning like he had been earlier.

“Why not? We  _are_  a rock band, aren’t we? I’d say that these songs are more or less what we’re after,” He said in response, his grin showing off some of his white teeth. Kurt continued to watch him for a moment longer, before quickly tearing his glance away, focusing on looking at the music that he was holding.

“A rock band, yes. But one with _variety_ all the same,” He turned to look up at Elliott once more, and Elliott tilted his head to one side as he continued to listen to Kurt speak. “I’ll put these two on the pile, but keep looking across  _all_  genres. There may be a song that can work to our advantage somehow, instead of just playing it safe with bands that already exist in the rock area and that have been covered a hundred times,  _like_   _Foreigner_  and  _The Human League_.” 

“Right, yeah,” Elliott said, his brow creasing slightly as he moved his arms from off the rack. “You wanted variety and unexpected things, not what’s already been done thirty or forty years beforehand.” 

“Exactly.” Kurt replied, giving Elliott a small smile in return. “If it helps, I've picked out one or two myself. I’ll show you them a little bit later and see what you think before we decide to actually buy anything. Until then, we’ll keep looking to see what other treasures are hidden here.”

Elliott nodded, agreeing with Kurt’s words before moving to walk through the aisle again. He understood clearly what it was that Kurt was saying, agreed with his method and idea even. It was just that he had gotten so used to laughing with Kurt now that they were friends, so used to the other mans presence around him, be it outside of the band or within it. When he had seen the titles of the songs on the records that he had found, Elliott had felt the need to develop their search into that of a little game between them for some reason, as if he was trying to see if Kurt could pick up the theme that was common in more or less all three of the songs that he had found. What it was he was that he had actually been trying to say himself in that moment.

That one simple sentence that seemed to keep appearing at the forefront of his mind whenever he least expected, no matter how often he tried to push the thought away.

_‘I think I might be starting to like you somehow, Kurt.’_

Yet Kurt  _hadn’t_  picked up on them, and Elliott wondered if perhaps it was because he was being too subtle, or because Kurt was just much too focused on the task at hand to even pay attention to such a thing. Elliott felt that it was probably a mixture of both things, knowing that when Kurt had a plan he was focused on seeing it through to the end, and that whenever it came to trying to say something without using his words so much, Elliott pretty much failed at such tasks. 

Elliott thought however that maybe it was a good thing that Kurt hadn’t put too much thought into why he was picking songs with such similar themes, since there was always the possibility that it could cause some sort of tension or awkward atmosphere between the two of them. And that was something that he really didn’t want to do. In a way, he was just thankful that his actions had managed to spark laughter from Kurt, because at least that way he knew that Kurt had been amused at his actions in some fashion. 

As he continued to think silently to himself Elliott kept walking and searching through the racks of music, every now and then pulling up a record before shaking his head and putting it back again. Now that he was focused more on thinking about the band once again, Elliott was back to envisioning what songs would work well if they were perform them on stage and to an audience, and which ones wouldn’t. They didn’t want songs that were overdone, or that they couldn’t bring back to life somehow with the creativity of all those that were involved in their group. Yet at the same time they didn’t want any songs that people wouldn’t connect with – after all the aim was to try and improve from their last gig.

As he kept looking through the collections of music available Elliott’s eyes suddenly fell onto something, and his feet stopped their movement in where they had been pacing slowly throughout the aisles as he searched. Slowly, he reached forward to the record that had caught his attention, and carefully, like all the times before he moved to slide it out of where it sat in the rack. 

Elliot had recognised the band as soon as he had spotted it, and his face broke into a smile once more when his thoughts were confirmed. They were newer artists than those that he had picked out before, a group that weren’t dated back from the seventies or the eighties. As well as that, the song was one that was recognisable and well known, yet still remained as one that was rarely covered by other artists and bands. Even with bearing that thought in mind, Elliott couldn’t help but think that the song was perfect for  _their_  band, especially if they were to find some way to blend everyone’s voices together…

“Hey, Kurt,” Elliott called, his mind working like clockwork as he began to think about what it would be like to perform the song on a stage together with Kurt and the girls. Kurt – who had moved to search through the same aisle as Elliott at some point – looked up when Elliott had called his name, giving another small, questioning humming sound as he walked over to him.

“What do you think about this?” Elliot asked, sensing that Kurt was close. Kurt silently moved so that he was standing beside Elliott, looking at where Elliott was holding the record. For some reason in the moments that followed Elliott realised that he was holding his breath, almost as if he was hoping that Kurt would see the potential that the song had for them just like he had.  Eventually, Elliott realised that Kurt's lips were slowly forming another smile of their own, and as Kurt realised what it was he was holding and seemed to approve of it, Elliott felt like he could breathe again. 

“ _The Darkness_ ,” Kurt said, eyes still drawn on the cover for a moment longer, before his gaze drifted back to where Elliott was watching him. “Now you’ve got the right idea. This is a great find, Elliott.”

Kurt moved his arm to wrap around Elliott, squeezing Elliott’s that was furthest away from him before pulling back and looking at the record that Elliott had picked up once more. Elliott couldn’t help but feel a tingling sensation from where Kurt had squeezed his arm even through the thick material of his coat, almost as if Kurt’s touch had caused a reaction from him. By the way that his heartbeat had also seemed to have sped up slightly too at the gesture, Elliott wasn’t sure he could say that it  _hadn’t_  caused any sort of reaction, even if he had been trying to ignore whenever such things would happen around Kurt.

As much as he may not like to admit it out loud just yet, Elliott was beginning to believe for certain that he was starting to find Kurt’s presence whenever they were around each other almost addictive.

**Author's Note:**

> The songs Elliott finds and offers to Kurt are:  
> Abba - Take A Chance On Me  
> Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You  
> The Human League - Don’t You Want Me Baby?
> 
> And the finale one that they both like which is:  
> The Darkness - I Believe In A Thing Called Love


End file.
